Opinion: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
We hope the court will direct the Department of Interior to cancel the Roan leases, refund the lease money and consider technological changes that would allow the industry to extract the bulk of the natural gas. Environmentalist contend that, using 2007 technology, the vast majority of the gas resources underlying the Roan can be extracted without disturbing the top. Read more
According to Drew Peternell, of Colorado Trout Unlimited's Western Water Project, the Supreme Court laid out a new test for public utilities. In the Pagosa Springs case, the court ruled that the city's claim for water based on a 100-year planning horizon was not reasonable.
“They have to show that claim for water is based on realistic projections for population growth. They can't just pull numbers out the air,” Peternell said.
In its most recent appeal, TU argued that the districts’ revised figures were still not in line with credible future water use projections and amounted to speculation. In Monday’s decision, the high court unanimously agreed, finding insufficient evidence to support the quantities of water Lyman awarded, either in direct flow rights or storage.
In its decree, the Supreme Court ruled that the 23,500-acre-foot size approved by the water court is based on “speculative claims, at least in part.”
In response, TU insists that, “Unless the Pagosa districts can now demonstrate a ‘substantial probability’ that a reservoir of that size is needed to meet future needs, the water court must reduce the amount of their claimed water.”
TU went on to say, “We’re ready to talk with the Pagosa Springs stakeholders and craft a solution that meets a range of valid needs, including municipal growth, agriculture and recreation and wildlife. But any solution has to be based on credible, substantiated numbers about future water supply and needs.”
http://www.pagosasun.com/archives/2009/11november/110509/pg1drygulch.html
Some water experts warn the upper Colorado River is an endangered species if current residential growth patterns and water consumption patterns continue along the state’s Front Range, and they’re increasingly concerned proposed energy production on the Western Slope will accelerate its demise. Ken Neubecker, president of the state counsel of Colorado Trout Unlimited and a member of the Colorado River Basin Roundtable, points out that already 64 percent of the upper Colorado River above Hot Sulfur Springs in Grand County is diverted across the Continental Divide to the Front Range population centers of the state.
http://coloradoindependent.com/41558/upper-colorado-river-front-range-water-resources-threatened
Proponents are asking Colorado State Parks to adopt a new formula for the distribution of OHV user fees, which riders pay to the state when they register their vehicles. The proposal asks that 40 percent of the $3.1 million available from user fees be used for enforcement of OHV laws, and that an additional 30 percent be used for additional signs that tell riders where they can and cannot legally ride. “There is a desperate need for funding law enforcement,” said Aaron Clark, spokesman for the Southern Rockies Conservation Alliance.
Clark said funding of enforcement of OHV riders is left to counties.
“We need to restore the damage and close the illegal routes and enforce those (closings), so we don’t have more damage,” Clark said. “This is a reasonable way to help pay for it.”
The proposal is supported by organizations such as Responsible Trails America, the Southern Rockies Conservation Alliance, Trout Unlimited and the Colorado Wildlife Federation.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2009/11/05/110609_1A_OHV_funds.html
From our man on the scene, Ty Churchwell:
After three years of raising money, advocating and planning, the largest and most ambitious 5 Rivers TU project to date is complete. The entire chapter should be proud of our accomplishment. This was truly a community project and our most valuable resource has been improved.
This project was born of our involvement with the Animas River Task Force, a citizen advisory council with representation by the chapter. A City of Durango ordered river corridor assessment identified nine locations within city limits where sever riverbank degradation was occurring. TU and Animas Riverkeeper representatives recognized the opportunity for a project and jumped at the chance. A partnership was formed and planning began.
The section of the Animas below 9th street, along Roosa Ave., was determined to be the highest priority, this due to its visibility and proximity to the downtown corridor and the tree assets in peril. Additionally, trout habitat in this section was minimal and in need of improvement. Many of our visiting anglers find this water to be the most convenient for their quick afternoon outings while the family shops.
Five Rivers and Riverkeeper began raising money in 2006. An initial plan was designed and the City of Durango was approached for permission and potential partnership. Our partners with the city were thrilled that a grassroots effort was forming and they signed on in support. Financial assistance was offered and they acted as the contractor for grant requests and permitting. The partners applied for and were awarded a DOW “Fishing is Fun” grant representing roughly 75% of the project costs. Via the annual fundraising banquet, the chapter raised our commitment of $7000. Once the 2009 city budget was approved, we were fully funded.
Numerous contractors were interviewed and we had a say in who was hired. In Western Stream Works from Ridgeway, we found a passionate restorator who embraced our beliefs and vision for the project. Contrived and man-made was not the look we were going for. Quality habitat and long-term riverbank protection was the goal. Thank you Bill!
Pagosa Daily Post The Colorado Supreme Court today handed down a decision that reinforced the principle that Colorado municipalities must base water projects on clearly demonstrated and credible projections of future need. In the case, Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District and San Juan Water Conservancy District v. Trout Unlimited, the Court ruled that Pagosa area water districts had not sufficiently demonstrated a need for the amount of water they claimed for the proposed Dry Gulch Reservoir, based on projected population growth and water availability over a 50-year planning period. “The Supreme Court reaffirmed today that it will not tolerate public utilities speculating in water,” said Drew Peternell, director of TU’s Colorado Water Project, who argued the case before the state’s highest court. “This is a victory for reality-based water planning.”
http://www.pagosadailypost.com/news/13636/PAWSD_Dry_Gulch_Plan_Rejected_by_Supreme_Court/
“We're really nervous. The rivers are only so resilient,” said David Nickum, director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “You can't talk about these systems in isolation,” he said, referring to a Denver Water proposal to take more water out of the Fraser River and across the Continental Divide.
“Multiple water diversions have pushed the Fraser River to the brink of collapse,” said Kirk Klancke, president of the Colorado Headwaters Chapter of TU, based in Grand County. “This is a river on life support.”
Nickum and Klancke were referring to a draft environmental study on the Fraser River project. The conservation groups said they've already been talking with Denver Water, and that the utility is open to discussing the issues. The draft study was released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Friday.
Ski-Hi Daily News “We have already met with Denver Water's staff, and they seem open to discussing some of these concepts,” said Mely Whiting, Legal Counsel for Trout Unlimited's Colorado Water Project. “We hope the Denver Water Board seizes this opportunity to create a legacy, where water development and environmental protections can go hand in hand.”
“Front Range residents must recognize the connection between our water use and the health of our rivers and streams, fisheries and wildlife habitat,” said David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “We can't continue to take and take from these rivers without accounting for our impacts. The glass is not even half full—it's almost drained dry.”
http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20091102/NEWS/911029998/1079&ParentProfile=1067
